Math 313: Probability and Statistics

Instructor: Neil Martinsen-Burrell
SC 363
319-352-8420
nmb@wartburg.edu
Text: Wackerly, Mendenhall, Scheaffer, Mathematical Statistics with Applications, Seventh Edition.
Class Meets: SC 345, MWF 2:30-3:35
Office hours: MWF 11-12
Syllabus

Schedule

MondayWednesdayFriday
Intro
1.1, 1.2		 1.3-1.5
2.1-2.4
HW 1		 2.5, 2.6 2.7, 2.8
2.9
HW 2		 2.10, 2.11
3.1,3.2
HW 3		 3.3 Group Presentations
3.9
HW 4		 4.2 4.3
Group Presentations
HW 5		 3.11, 4.9 Exam Review
7.1,7.2
HW 6		 7.2 7.3
Exam 1
Project Discussion 7.4 FALL BREAK!!
7.5 8.2 8.3, 8.4
8.5
HW 7		 8.6 8.7, 8.8
8.9
HW 8		 10.2 10.3
10.5
HW 9		 10.6 THANKSGIVING!!
10.8 10.9 11.2
11.3
HW 10		 13.3 Final Presentations

Exam 1 Solutions

Project 1

We will shortly be studying a probability concept called random variables. There are many flavors of random variables, and me talking about them one-by-one in class is incredibly boring. So, you will be talking about them in class. We will divide the class up into 5 groups and each group will be responsible for teaching the rest of the class one the sections 3.4-3.8.

On Friday, October 2, each group will have 10 minutes to present the contents of the section. This should include what your type of random variable is and what it is useful for. You should also include a worked example from the section. In addition to your in-class presentation, you should also submit two (2) problems from the end of your section to include on HW 4. You should have chosen your two problems and let me know by Thursday, October 1.

Final Project

You will study in pairs a particular item of statistical interest that we have not covered in this course. You will write a report on what you find, including your sources and any significant results as well as give a 5 minute group presentation about your topic in class. Reports will be due Wednesday, December 16 by 1:30 pm and presentations will be in class on December 11.

Here are some ideas for possible projects:

Statistical Graphics
There has been a lot written about the display of statistical information by people such as Edward Tufte and Darrell Huff
Two-way ANOVA
We will not talk about it in class, but there is an ANOVA for comparing two different sets of criteria.
Non-parametric Statistics
Our statistical tests require that things have specified distributions, usually normal. What does one do if that isn't the case?
Statistics in Sports
Statistics and sports have a long association. Interesting topics include predicting winners and analyzing past performance data.
U.S. Census
The U.S. Census is a tremendous statistical undertaking. What is it and what are some of the techniques that they use?
Polling
As we enter another election cycle, people pay lots of attention to who is where in the polls. How are polls done and how are they interpreted?
Random Number Generation
How do people draw random numbers from a specified distribution?
Random Walks
What is a random walk and why do we care?
Markov Chains
What is a Markov chain and why do we care?
Monte Carlo Simulation
Clever gambling or just a way to compute complicated integrals?
Bayesian Statistics
Bayes Rule can be applied to estimate quantities. What is a prior? A posterior? Who cares?
Multivariate Statistics
What is covariance? Multivariate normal distribution? Other multivariate distributions? Linear Algebra?
Chaos and Predictability
While not strictly statistical, chaos leads to questions of randomness and estimating error.

Homework assignments